Scientists are reporting on a new antibiotic, actually a tweaked old antibiotic, which looks promising. This will not be the ultimate solution to the antibiotic resistance problem, but it will buy us some more time if it works. The antibiotic is a modified version of vancomycin. One of the most worrisome “superbugs” is called VRE – vancomycin resistant enterococci.

We are basically in an arms race with bacteria, and they are winning. They are steadily gaining ground on our antibiotics, and we are not researching new drugs fast enough to keep up. While this potential new drug is encouraging, we need to do more.